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OPP “Heads” The Creativity Of THON

Most people realize that the colors of the OPPerations Committee, the dutiful floor-washers and table-movers of THON, are dark blue. But how does one make out the committees inside the committee? With the only thing that will stand out in a group of 15,000 people: Crazy Hats!

It has become tradition for each sub-committee of OPP to come up with a crazy hat idea, whether it be because of their captain’s name or because it was the goofiest thing they found in a catalog. I traveled far and wide across the Bryce Jordan Center during the Friday-Saturday overnight shift to see which headgear literally rose above the rest.

Homan Improvements – Captain Amy Homan

This committee gets their name from everyone’s favorite 90s TV show, “Home Improvement”. Instead of covering their THON logo shirts with the signature plaid of Al Borland, the committee opted to go with yellow plastic hardhats. Simple, yet effective.

TalaDana Nights – Captain Dana McCarron

The committee name, taken from the Will Ferrell NASCAR movie and Captain Dana McCarron’s first name (I know, it took me awhile to get it too, don’t be ashamed). could play a part in the street cone hats that this committee wears to stand out, but it doesn’t. When I asked the committee members pictured below the significance of their hats, they just laughed and said it was the “craziest thing we could see”. Well, mission accomplished, because it’s the hat that was most prominent on the floor at that time.

Jabbawilkiez – Captain RJ Wilkinson

I never got the whole America’s Best Dance Crew craze and why those guys had to wear masks to perform. I’m surprised they didn’t fall off the stage during the show. Considering OPP is on the crowded floor all weekend long, masks wouldn’t be a great idea, so they went these elephant hats instead because it was “just something crazy”.

ZanKOWski Tippers – Captain Jill Zankowski

The best was saved for last here. Not only did they have the best name (which is the greatest long-standing central Pennsylvania tradition), they had cows on top of their heads. Maybe because I was taking these pictures at 2:00 a.m., but I found them hilarious. Disagree if you must.

Have you seen any other OPP hats this weekend? Let us know in the comments or tweet us a picture!

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About the Author

Dan is a graduate student in meteorology, hailing from Bradford, Pennsylvania. His interests include sports, Penn State and commons cheesesteaks. Feel free to contact me through my email or follow me on Twitter.

Tonight, new THON overall Will Martin found out who he would be working towards building a great THON 2013 with as the rest of his overall committee was announced. You can find the list of the 14 new members of the overall committee after the jump.